When the remake of Duke Nukem landed with a dull thud, the cliché “you can’t go home again” really came home to roost.

What was seen as innovative, fun and edgy in the ’90s game world clearly had lost its lustre in 2011.

But thanks to the recent remake of Twisted Metal and the new release SSX for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, I have faith that you can put a new spin on old blockbusters.

This SSX remake has gone through several iterations, much like the Duke game. At one point, the game was to be called SSX Deadly Descent, and while the game has reverted back to much more of a remake of the original concept, I have to say old fans will love it, and new fans will embrace it — as, though it’s a remake, it’s a unique game in today’s market.

The concept is, of course, snowboarding. And extreme snowboarding.

Real mountains are “tricked out” to go way over the top and you race against a slew of characters in a number of forms.

One is flat out racing where you compete against other characters, the other is tricks where you try to win more points with more outlandish tricks, and the third is “Survive it” mode where you essentially try to beat the environment on the toughest free course on the mountain.

The game is broken down into “regions” which include the Rockies, Alaska, Patagonia and the Alps. PlayStation 3 owners have an exclusive Mt. Fuji region as well.

The mountains are truthfully named but wildly exaggerated.

While SSX is way over the top, the characters themselves and the graphics overall are much more in tune with real life. While there are some bizarre settings and super­human feats involved, you won’t be playing human pinball in this ­version of the game.

The stuff they pull off in the game isn’t humanly realistic, but it’s not Cartoon Network fodder either.

The key to a game like this is sensation, and there’s lots of it. Whether it’s via speed or inversion, you really sense the knife-edge as you’re whipping down the mountain or rotating in the air doing a trick.

The core gameplay is boosted magnificently by the speed you feel as you blast down the hill.

This is great during the racing portion, and even works when you’re trying to pull off tricks, but the key is in the Survive It mode of deadly descents. Trying to navigate impossible terrain is a real adrenalin rush and just like real life, there really is no way to brake in those situations, you just have to react and that makes it tough to get through.

You can get by on your ­directional skills and reaction time a little bit, but chances are you’re going to have to memorize the course at least in certain sections in order to make it out and move on.

Tricks are a huge part of the game and not just in the trick-it portion. When you catch air in a race, the way to boost your meter is to do tricks. There’s a big risk that comes with doing tricks though. The longer you hold them, or string tricks ­together, the more risk of falling — and if you fall, you’re done in the race. You can “rewind” to a spot, but while you rewind, your opponents fly by you and you’ll need excessive fortune just to catch up.

One of the joys of playing SSX Tricky was the Run DMC title clip every time you pulled it off.

That’s back, thankfully, along with a strong soundtrack that also include Skrillex, Foster the People, DJ ­Shadow and a phalanx of people you’ve probably never heard of either.

It all feeds into the style and mood of SSX, which is detailed and ­thorough. I have to say I really enjoyed the consistency of nearly everything in this game.

Aside from the look and the considerable graphic muscle that’s been added since the first version of the game in 2000, there are some extras, including a magnificent wing suit that allows you to take flight off treacherous jumps. Brilliant addition there, somewhat along the line of the hang glider in Mario Kart, but with more adrenalin.

There’s also some great multiplayer ways to enjoy SSX, including one-off races, trick competitions and ­Global Event contests, where you join others from around the world in what could be a day, week or month long competition.

One thing that may aggravate a little is there’s a ton of unlockables in the game, from characters to boards and outfits to courses.

For the most part you can unlock this stuff with points, or credits, you earn from achievements in the game. But on the other hand you can “buy” credits with your account, and some of the things you want may need some time to build up credits, so the temptation to buy is there.

When a game is delayed and tinkered with as much as SSX has been, the signs aren’t good, and I have to admit I was prepared for the worst here. But they’ve clearly won the gold with this one, it’s a very distinct looking game that’s a load of fun to play whether you actually snowboard or not.

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